In a candid assessment of the Super Eagles squad ahead of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, retired Nigeria international Yakubu Aiyegbeni has identified a major weakness in the team. 

He believes the Super Eagles lack a creative midfielder capable of dictating play and controlling games in the mould of legendary midfielder Sunday Oliseh.

Manager Eric Chelle has selected eight midfielders in his travelling party to Morocco, including Alex Iwobi,  Frank Onyeka, Wilfred Ndidi, Raphael Onyedika, Tochukwu Nnadi, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, Ebenezer Akinsanmiro and Usman Muhammed.

With the exception of Alex Iwobi, the midfielders named in the final 28-man squad are more defensively minded than attack-oriented.

Yakubu expressed concerns about the Super Eagles midfield, which he feels is too defensive-oriented and lacks the quality required to control matches at the highest level.

"We need a proper midfielder who can pass the ball because we have too many defensive midfielders. We have Ndidi and Onyeka, they can only pass the ball sideways. We are lucky Ndidi passed one to Ejuke (against Gabon),"Yakubu said on Home Turf podcast.

"I don't want to go back in our days. We had Oliseh who can pass the ball, switch the play. We need a creative midfielder who can pass the ball very well, so we are lacking that.

"That's the most important thing for us, we don't have it. We don't dominate games. We need a proper midfielder who can change and dominate the game."

Three-time champions Nigeria will battle Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda in Group C of the 2025 Afcon. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel